He was a younger son of
Hugh the Great,
Duke of the Franks, and
Hedwig of Saxony and thus the younger brother of King
Hugh Capet. As Odo, he entered the church at a young age and was a cleric at the time of the death of his brother
Otto, Duke of Burgundy, on 22 February 965. He was elected by the Burgundian counts to succeed his brother and they gave him the name Henry. However Otto-Henry only held three counties of his own, his vassals holding the remaining six that comprised the core of that held by
Richard the Justiciar who died in 921. In 978, Henry participated in the
invasion of Lotharingia and the defence of
Paris from a counter-raid. In 972, he married
Gerberga, the widow of
Adalbert II of Italy, This marriage allowed Henry to rule the County of Nevers. He married a second time to
Gersenda, daughter of
William II of Gascony. As Henry had no child, Otto-William became a legitimate contender to inherit the
Duchy of Burgundy. So did Henry's nephew, the king
Robert II of France. This resulted in a war of succession (from 1003 to 1005) between Otto-William and Robert II. Otto-William eventually gave up the Duchy but kept in the Western Frankish Kingdom, the county of
Mâcon, the county of
Beaune and the advowson for the abbey of St-Benigne in
Dijon. ==Family==